The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC), Dr. Lucy Newman, has commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the key role in financial literacy and inclusion policies, particularly, for women.

She also expressed gratitude to the bank for putting extra efforts to develop the Nigerian Financial Literacy Framework and implementing several associated projects to foster financial inclusion for women.

Newman made the observations on the sidelines of the event marking her induction into the 2017 Class of the Money Management Series (MMS), Women of Fortune Hall of Fame (WoFHoF) Initiative in Lagos.

“The bottomline as a business case, is that building financial capacity of women with strategic and deliberate actions that are measureable and sustained over time, has a very high correlation to Human Development Index, which is as a measure of a composite statistic (composite index) of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators, which are used to rank countries into four tiers of human development,” she said.

The Chairperson Board of Trustees of the WoFHoF Initiative, Mrs. Margaret Orakwusi, said Newman was recognised for the positive impact she is making in FITC- building capacity and skills for leaders and other key players in the financial services industry.

She said the group will continue to celebrate her as a shining example of women who have remained role models and great achievers in their chosen fields against all odds.

Presenting the award to Newman, President, Women Arise for Change Initiative, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, also described her as a valuable and career-driven woman.

“As a chief trainer of the financial-focused institute, Lucy Newman believes in adding value to employees and clients. She motivates women to build successful careers and move from background players to frontrunners in the development of the society,” she said.

However, Newman, speaking on the theme: “Options and Strategies in Building and Developing Financial Capacity in Women,” said there is need to promote financial literacy among children and give them financial education early in life.

With over 29 years working experience, of which about 90 per cent is from the financial services sector, Newman said she benefited from mentoring through the years, and also had the privilege of several layers of being a mentor to others.

She said that financial capacity for women is increasingly becoming a priority for policy makers, because it is recognised to contribute to the financial stability, financial inclusion, and to the effective functioning of financial markets, including economic sustainability of the nuclear and extended family units.

Emphasisin the need for integrity in discharging one’s responsibilities, she said: “There is no fraud linked to whatever I have today. I also learn a lot from my mentors,” she said.

According to her, government has so far taken several commendable steps in developing financial capacity for women, noting that N1.6 billion is currently set aside for women empowerment programme called the National Women Empowerment Fund, which is part of a social Investment intervention programme known as the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).